Not Without You
by CaptainPudge
Summary: 18th Century Elsanna Pirate AU. When Anna spotted her in Arendelle market that day, she had no idea just how much her life would change from there on out. Vague summary because I just don't want to give too much away. Lots of Elsanna though. And eventual pirate captain Anna.
1. Chapter 1

_Spring 1707_

That was the year Anna first laid eyes on her. Of course, she had no idea who she was. But so help her, she'd be damned if she didn't find out. She spotted the girl as she was walking through the bustling mid-morning crowd of Arendelle market, accompanied by another woman. Had Anna paid any attention at all to this other woman, she may have figured out who the girl was a little sooner, considering the company she was in. But Anna was far too preoccupied with her all too blatant staring at the beautiful young woman who had graced them all with her presence that day.

She was of higher class, that much was certain. The way she held herself, polite and reserved, she was the complete picture of sophisticated grace. Not to mention the sumptuous, elaborate clothing. But what really caught Anna's eye was something other than just the unknown girl's clothing. It was her face, her hair, her eyes... her entire being. Anna was certain she hadn't seen anything quite so perfect in her life; flawless pale skin, impeccably styled platinum blonde hair that was up in an elegant bun, that adorably dainty nose, the well defined cheekbones, and those eyes... big, bright blue eyes that were filled with curiosity as they examined all the trinkets and merchandise that the market stalls had on offer.

Anna continued to watch the woman from where she was sat, perched upon a wall overlooking part of the town. From her position she could see the majority of Arendelle's market and the docks where the fishermen and sailors gathered. Not too far from the town, if she looked in the right direction, she would be able to spot Arendelle Manor right on the edge of the Fjord. It was easily the largest building in all of Arendelle and the home to Lord Kristiansen and his family. But none of that interested Anna. She was still captivated by the blonde woman who was slowly making her way through the market.

And that's when she looked up. The woman happened to glance up to the wall where Anna was sitting and their eyes locked. Anna was momentarily stunned as she gawked down at her before quickly pulling herself together and offering the blonde a smirk and a wink. The woman quickly pulled her gaze away from Anna and stared at the ground, blushing profusely. Anna chuckled to herself as she watched her face turn red. And that's when she noticed just who it was that this woman was in the company of. She knew that woman. Well, not personally; but she knew of her. Everyone knew who she was. Lady Kristiansen of Arendelle.

And then it hit her. This woman, this exceptionally beautiful young woman had to be the daughter of Lord and Lady Kristiansen. There was no doubt about it, the resemblance between the two women was remarkable. Anna had never seen their daughter before. She was never seen in public, always kept herself hidden away in the manor. But for whatever reason, she was out in the market today with her mother. It had to be her; the mysteriously unknown daughter of the Kristiansen family, heir to the Lordship of Arendelle.

As Lady Kristiansen and her daughter started to make their way out of the market and back to their estate, the latter took one last glance up at Anna on the wall. Anna's gaze was still on the young woman and she offered her a small smile this time, diminishing her arrogance with the lack of a smirk. The woman's reaction was very much the same, though to a lesser extent; she blushed slightly and lowered her gaze as she walked alongside her mother. As she watched them walk away, Anna's only thought was _'I have to find out her name.'_

She jumped down off the wall and walked swiftly through the market towards the docks, discreetly swiping a carrot from the vegetable stand as she passed. She didn't have to search for too long before she found who she was looking for; her tall, stocky, blonde haired best friend and of course, his reindeer companion.

"Kristoff," she greeted him warmly as she approached. Kristoff had been checking things in the back of his sled before he turned around upon hearing her voice. No doubt he had just finished loading his latest shipment of ice onto a cargo ship to be transported out of the country.  
"Anna, hey. What are you doing here, we hadn't arranged to meet until noon. That eager to see me, huh?" he asked, eyebrow raised and smirk etched on his face.  
"Oh shush, I came to ask you something. It's important! Absolutely could not wait until noon!"  
"It couldn't wait thirty minutes?" Kristoff deadpanned.  
"Absolutely not!"

As Kristoff waited for her to divulge whatever it was that was on her mind, Anna made her way to the front of the sled to greet Sven the reindeer who was harnessed up to it. "So just out of curiosity, do you know anything about the daughter of the Kristiansen family?" she asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.  
"Who, Elsa? Elsa Kristiansen?" Kristoff was rather taken aback by the question. "Why on earth could you possibly need to know anything about her?"  
"Elsa..." Anna said softly, more to herself than anyone as she fed the previously stolen carrot to Sven, who gratefully consumed it without hesitance.

"Anna?" Kristoff attempted to get her attention as unhooked Sven from the harness in order to lead him to the stables.  
"Hmm?" Anna responded, too lost in thought to realise what her friend had just said.  
"I said," he replied, rolling his eyes at her, "Why do you need to know about Elsa?"  
"Oh... I just saw her in the market earlier. I've never actually seen her before. I mean, has anyone even seen her before? I don't know but goodness, she is so beautiful. I can honestly say that I have never seen a single person to have been graced with beauty such as that. Gods, Kristoff she is just really pretty and-"

"Woah, wait a minute," Kristoff said, interrupting her rambling. Whist Anna had been preoccupied with going on and on about how attractive she found the Lord's daughter, Kristoff has managed to put his sled away and secured Sven in the local stables. The duo were now making their way back through the market and into the main part of town. "You mean to tell me that Elsa Kristiansen was outside, in public.. surrounded by people? I thought she was a recluse. Not many people have managed to even catch a glimpse of her." he explained as they reached the tavern. It was customary for the two to meet in the tavern at noon on the day of Kristoff's arrival back from an ice harvest. The two of them ordered their drinks and sat down at their usual table.

"Well I didn't even know who she was at first," Anna explained. "It wasn't until I saw who she was with that I realised. Lady Kristiansen was in the market today, which isn't too unusual I suppose. But my God, Kristoff.. Elsa.. she is just... wow.."  
"A little love-struck, are we?" Kristoff smirked at the younger girl sitting across from him.  
"What?! No! Of course not! I'm just-" Anna couldn't stop the blush that was now spreading across her freckled cheeks.

Kristoff chuckled at her embarrassment before taking on a more serious tone.  
"Look, Anna.. I know she's pretty and mysterious and interesting but.. you have to stay away from this girl okay. Nothing good can come from this."  
"What? Why not?"  
"Anna, seriously. Whatever sudden interest you have in her, you need to get rid of it. You're going to get yourself into trouble."  
"What's wrong with casually noticing a pretty girl?" Anna asked defensively.

Kristoff sighed. He knew he was going to have to explain.  
"Anna... I know what you're like. You don't just casually notice someone. It's nice that you've taken an interest in someone but you have a tendency to fall too hard too fast. I just don't want to see you getting hurt. Not to mention Elsa is the daughter of the Lord of Arendelle. If that doesn't automatically make her out of bounds to anyone then I don't know what does."

"What d'you mean 'out of bounds'? She's not out of bounds! She's a person, you can't put boundaries on a person!" Anna was not enjoying the turn this conversation had taken.  
"Anna, look at it this way: she is the daughter of Lord Kristiansen and sole heir to Arendelle. Not only that but she tends to stay away from the social side of things, hence why you've never seen her before today. You wouldn't even be able to manage to get the chance to have once conversation with this girl. And even if you did get that chance, I doubt she'd even know how to respond to a simple 'hello'. Plus, you're a commoner. I'm fairly certain she wouldn't want to deal with riff-raff such as you and I. To be honest, I'm amazed she was out in the market today. I'm willing to bet that's the last you or anyone else sees of her in a long time." Kristoff finished his explanation.

Anna couldn't hide the disappointment from her face. She knew Kristoff had a point. But by God, she was willing to prove him wrong. She knew she was being stubborn but that was a fact that Anna cared not about. She needed to talk to this girl. She had been completely captivated just by looking at her today. She could only imagine what it would be like to be able to talk to her, to have a proper conversation with her. If she was out in the market today then she had to be willing at least to some extent to socialise with commoners such as herself. So Kristoff couldn't have been entirely right on that point. Anna was going to see this girl again.. somehow.. someway.. they would find themselves in each others presence and Anna was going to strike up conversation. If only to hear the voice to match to her face. Anna was determined.

"Hmm.. So how's your ice business?" Kristoff then went into detail about what had happened on his latest ice harvesting trip. The rest of their time in the tavern was spent conversing about ice and other such small talk. Anna was only halfheartedly interested in the conversations today though. Try as she might, she just could not get that woman out of her mind. Elsa Kristiansen.

* * *

**A/N: So.. uh.. hey guys. look I started another story, oh my. And it's gonna be a mega multi-chapter oh my goodness why did I think this would be a good idea? Okay but despite my previous stories that I've written and haven't updated in 4 years, I promise my updates with this will be more frequent. I can't say how frequent but more frequent. I apologise, but it's going to be a little slow moving at first. Nothing adventurous for a few chapters yet. But never fear, I have the majority of this fic figured out. Sort of. Just gotta try and get the ball rolling so to speak. But I do plan some more Anna and Elsa interaction next chapter aw yiss. Everyone looks awkward Elsanna fluff, right? We've got that on the way! Anyway, thank you for giving my first chapter a read. I do hope it's to your liking ^^ As always, any mistakes or anything are my own, I wrote the majority of this chapter at four this morning. And I'm fairly certain I was asleep whilst writing the last couple of paragraphs. Anyway, I rambled. I tend to ramble. Thanks again for reading.. please do come back for chapter two.**


	2. Chapter 2

This was reckless. It was a foolish, reckless idea and if Anna got caught then she was in trouble. But she honestly could not bring herself to care. After spotting Elsa Kristiansen in the market the previous day, she hadn't been able to take her mind off the girl for a single moment. She'd spent the night laying awake in bed trying to formulate a plan to see her once again, properly this time, with the possibility of an actual conversation. After going through as many ideas as she could think of, the only one that could possibly work was the most high-risk.

Considering Anna had never seen the girl before yesterday, it was highly unlikely she'd just bump into her into the market any time soon. And so, she would have to take it into her own hands to see her rather than leave it up to chance. And that was how Anna found herself wandering around the outskirts of Kristiansen Estate in the early evening, trying to find a way to get in without being spotted. Yes, this was definitely one of her most reckless ideas.

The entire estate was surrounded by a fifteen foot wall. This wasn't something that Anna could just clamber over with a running start; she'd need some help. And as luck would have it, she came across what appeared to be an easily climbable tree that would help her up and over the wall. She managed to get high enough in the tree with little trouble, although her decision to wear a dress today was probably a poor one. She hadn't really taken into consideration the physical activities she'd be doing whilst picking out her wardrobe for the day. But despite that, Anna was now high enough to attempt to jump over to the top of the wall.

Looking at it now, however, the space between the tree and the wall was bigger than she anticipated. Anna was a determined soul though, she was confidant enough she could make it with minimal injury. And so, she steadied herself on the branch that was supporting her, took a deep breath, and leapt towards the wall.

The space was definitely much bigger than she originally thought and Anna just barely managed to grasp the top of the wall without falling back down to the ground. She landed rather ungraciously with a soft "ooft" before pulling herself up the wall and sitting down on top of it, her legs dangling over into the Kristiansen property.

* * *

Elsa bid her parents a polite goodnight after dinner and made her way to the gardens for her usual evening stroll. The atmosphere was particularly calming that night as she walked casually along the side of the manor, looking up to admire the clear evening sky. With her attention directed upwards, something else happened to catch her eye. Something that did not belong there; or rather someone.

There, sat upon the top of the wall surrounding her home, was a girl. It was _that_ girl. The one who had caught Elsa's attention while she was out with her mother the day before. She was just sat there, plain as day, triumphant smile plastered on her face as she looked down at Elsa.

What exactly it was about this girl that had caught Elsa's attention, she was quite uncertain. Perhaps it was the air of careless freedom she had about her or maybe the way she was notably sat on a wall every time Elsa saw her. It could have been that confidant smile she seemed to wear constantly or her apparent determination to catch Elsa's eye. It might have been her face; the adorable, ever-curious blue eyes or those freckles.. so many freckles upon her nose and cheeks.. freckles that went down her neck and covered her shoulders and arms. Elsa could take a guess that she had them all over her body, not just her arms and face. She blushed at the sudden intrusive thought of thinking about this complete stranger and what she might look like underneath her clothes.

And then she remembered the issue at hand. She had gotten distracted by this strange girl that she completely forgot that she should probably do something about her sitting up there on her family's wall as if she owned the place!

"Hi there," the girl finally spoke up before Elsa could do or say anything. "Sorry about this, by the way. I just wanted to.. come speak to you.. I guess. And I know this wasn't really the best way to go about it. It was completely stupid really, I know that, but I just really wanted to talk to you. I saw you yesterday in the market. You remember me, right? That was me up on the wall. I guess I always seem to be sat on walls, huh?" Anna was rambling. She was rambling and she couldn't stop herself. "Well I'm not _always_ sat on walls. This is just strangely coincidental, I suppose." By this point, Elsa was completely baffled by how much this girl could talk. Even if she could get a word in edgeways, she wouldn't quite know how to respond to anything she was saying. "So anyway, yeah.. hello.." Anna trailed off, offering Elsa a small wave.

All Elsa could manage was an expression of complete and utter confusion. That is, until she brought a gloved hand up to her mouth as she let out a small chuckle at the complete ridiculousness of the situation. Here she was, taking a casual stroll in the gardens surrounding her home and there on the wall was a strange girl who couldn't stop talking.

"Aaand you're laughing at me," the girl continued. "I should probably go. This was a bad idea," she said as she started to turn herself around on the wall, ready to jump back down on the other side.

"Wait," Elsa started before she could stop herself, "don't.. don't go." She spoke so softly she was surprised the other girl even heard her. But she did. And with that, Anna turned back around unable to stop the grin that was spreading across her face.

"Okay, hey.. I know this is a completely irregular way to meet someone, but I just so happened to see you in the market yesterday and wanted to introduce myself. You left before I could even think what to say to you. But here I am, climbing walls just to say hello. I'm Anna."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Anna. My name is Elsa." Elsa gave her a polite introduction.

"Yeah, I know who you are," Anna replied. "Well I didn't until yesterday. I mean I knew you existed but I'd never seen you in person and I didn't know your name and it wasn't until I told my friend, Kristoff about you that he said 'oh that must be Elsa Kristiansen' and I was-" Anna stopped herself when she saw the amused expression on Elsa's face as she continued looking up at the rambling girl. "Sorry. I.. sometimes I.. talk.. a lot.. sorry."

"It's quit alright, don't apologise." Elsa offered her a comforting smile.

"No, I should apologise. I have a tendency to ramble when I'm nervous or excited I guess." Anna explained.

Elsa raised an eyebrow at that remark.

"Do I make you nervous?" she asked, not knowing what came over her as she said it. That definitely wasn't something she would usually say in this sort of situation. Not that she'd ever been in a situation like this before, but Elsa still had no idea what made her react in such an arrogantly sly manner.

"What?! no it- it's not that.. I just- I.. um.. well.. ehh.. hmmm.." Anna had all but given up on trying to form any sort of coherent sentence as she sat there and blushed at her sudden lack of ability of being able to talk. Lord, what was this girl doing to her?

At that point, Elsa had also started blushing which she seemed to do so easily in the presence of this girl. She didn't understand the effect she was having on her, but she was almost certain she liked it.

And that's when she felt it; the temperature suddenly dropped and she looked down at her hands. A thin layer of frost had started to form from her fingertips, despite the protection of the gloves. She hid them quickly behind her back before Anna could notice.

"I.. um.. I have to.. go. It's getting late." Elsa quickly tried to excuse herself so she could retreat back to her home and lock herself safely in her room.

"Oh um, okay then," Anna tried not to sound too disappointed. She wasn't one for hiding her emotions very well though.

And Elsa noticed. She didn't want to leave the girl upon the wall so suddenly, but she had to get away from her for fear of her finding out about her secret. Or worse, she didn't want to end up harming her. That was the last thing Elsa wanted to do, so she had to get away despite her wanting to stay outside and talk to Anna all night long.

"Can I come again?" Anna asked. "To see you, that is. If you want. I'll stay away if you'd rather I did but I would like to come by and talk to you again."

Elsa couldn't ignore the hopefulness in Anna's voice. And she definitely couldn't deny it.

And so, despite her better judgment, Elsa nodded her head before quickly turning around and making her way back towards the manor.

Anna was just left to sit there, wondering what on earth had just happened. Everything was going fine, or so she thought. What had she said that suddenly made Elsa run away from her?

Anna lost track of how long she sat on top of the Kristiansen's wall pondering over the evening's events. Eventually though, she brought herself back to reality and turned around to jump from the wall, landing rather unceremoniously in the bushes below. And with that, she made her way back home.

* * *

"Conceal, don't feel. Conceal, don't feel." Elsa was pacing her bedroom frantically, trying to keep herself under control. Snow had started to softly fall, gradually covering her furniture and turning everything white. Frost was creeping up the walls and her large window had completely frozen over, blurring the view outside. "Don't feel, don't feel, _don't feel!_"

Elsa frantically grasped at her hair, which had been released from the bun it was in previously and was now flowing loosely down her shoulders and back. She ran her hands through it roughly, trying to get a hold of her emotions.

Now she remembered why she had spent years of her life isolated from people; they had an uncontrollable effect on her. Her mother had allowed her to accompany her to the market yesterday with the promise that she now had full control of her powers. And she had done well. She proved to her mother that she could control herself around people, at least for a short amount of time. But then Anna came along.

Anna with her fearless attitude and adorable rambling. Her long, braided strawberry blonde hair and the mass of freckles that adorned her face and shoulders. And she came along and basically ruined any sort of progress Elsa had made with the control of her powers. And she just couldn't understand why. It didn't make sense as to why this girl sent Elsa's head spinning. Why she was making her heart beat at such a frantic pace.

Elsa didn't understand what was going on inside her and it was making her panic. Being in Anna's presence, even for such a short amount of time, was causing her to have emotions and feelings she'd never felt before. Not knowing what these feelings were or how to control them or get rid of them was making her more and more anxious with each passing moment, which of course was having a negative effect on her powers. All those years spent learning how to conceal them and keep them under control. All that effort to keep her powers under check and not let her emotions show. It all seemed so wasted now. All because of one girl that Elsa had happened to have talked to once, and very briefly at that. All this was happening because of _her._

'_Goodness, she is beautiful though._' Elsa's sudden thought caught her off guard and she had to stop and think about what had just gone through her head. Was that what was really happening? These feelings, this loss of control.. all because.. no, there was no way. It had to be something else. She couldn't actually be.. _attracted_ to this girl. There had to be another explanation.

But the more Elsa stood there and thought about it, the more it made sense. The more she thought about Anna, the quicker her heart would beat and she could feel the blush returning to her face as it had done so often since she first laid eyes on the girl.

It took her a while to finally admit it to herself, but there was no denying it now; Elsa was attracted to Anna. This wasn't supposed to happen though. She wasn't supposed to be attracted to some commoner girl she had spotted in the market. She was supposed to be attracted to a man.. a man of high status and wealth whom she would end up having to marry in order to keep her family's bloodline going and produce an heir to inherit Arendelle.

She couldn't be doing with these new feelings and she had to get rid of them. The trouble was, Elsa didn't quite know how.

And she definitely shouldn't have agreed to seeing Anna again. She supposed that Anna would show up in the same place at the same time the next day and Elsa thought that maybe she could just not show up. But then, of course, the thought of Anna sitting on the wall all night waiting for her to turn up, disappointment on her face when she realised Elsa wasn't going to be there.. Elsa couldn't bear it. She couldn't be the cause of Anna's disappointment.

As Elsa stood there in the middle of her room, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and steadied her breathing in order to calm herself.

"Conceal it, don't feel it." She repeated to herself once more. And sure enough, after a few moments, the snow and ice that covered her bedroom eventually disappeared. She breathed out a sigh of relief when she managed to get control of her powers once again. All this panicking about these feelings was just ridiculous, she thought. All Elsa had to do was simply stop the feelings. If she stopped thinking about Anna in that sort of way, then everything would be okay.

That was easier said than done, though. Not that Elsa had met many people before but Anna was definitely the most breathtakingly gorgeous person she had ever laid eyes on. Just the thought of her was making Elsa smile to herself and blush yet again.

And in that moment, while Elsa was lost in thoughts of Anna, a snowflake fell from above and landed right on the end of her nose. Elsa turned her gaze upwards and saw that she had unwillingly created a small flurry above her head and it was now softly snowing right on top of her. She let out an exasperated sigh at the realisation that Anna was making both her powers and feelings run amok and there was nothing she could do about it.

"Shit."

* * *

**A/N: Well would you look at that, an update and oh so soon. I'm not particularly happy with this chapter but I've been completely over thinking it for 3 days straight now and nothing I do with it is gonna make me happy tbh. idk. Let me know if it's okay though. I've come to the realisation that Elsa is actually a difficult character to write. I hope I got them both as in character as possible though! ^^ I tried, I really did :c I can't promise that the next chapter will be updated quite so soon because as of today I have at least 5 different pieces of college work to do within the next week and I've already put half of it off to work on this chapter. Oops. Anyway, Hope you enjoy it guys. I've had some wonderful reviews so far and a lot more follows and views than I thought possible.. and it was only the first chapter! So thank you so much to everyone that's favourited, followed and reviewed. I appreciate it very much!**


	3. Chapter 3

After what happened last night, Elsa knew she was going to have to let Anna down this evening and inform her that they could no longer see each other. There was plenty of legitimate excuses she could use along the lines of the situation being improper, but the sole reason she had to completely cut ties with Anna was because of her powers. She would only end up hurting the poor girl and she knew it.

And so, Elsa spent her afternoon planning exactly what she would say that evening. She needed to revise how she wanted the conversation to go, make everything sound genuine. Make it sound like she really didn't want to see Anna anymore. Of course it was all lies.

Elsa wanted nothing more than to carry on seeing this girl. She had only just entered her life, and although they had only had one brief conversation, she did not want her to have to leave so soon. But it would be for the best if she did.

As the time for her evening stroll arrived, Elsa bid goodnight to her parents and made her way to the gardens. And sure enough, as she reached the side of the manor, the freckled girl was sitting atop the wall once again.

"Good evening," Elsa greeted, unable to stop the small smile that had formed on her face.

"Hey there," Anna replied, wearing her usual broad grin.

Looking up at Anna, Elsa opened her mouth, getting ready to explain to her everything she needed to. But as soon as she looked up into those bright teal eyes, Elsa's mind went into overdrive and she completely lost the ability to say anything.

All she could focus on was Anna's face; her eyes, her freckles, her smile. She looked up at that smile and completely melted. She couldn't take that smile away from Anna. And she knew that lying to her about why they had to stay away from each other would bring disappointment to the other girl.

As Elsa was busy with all these thoughts running through her head, she didn't notice that Anna was now looking at her with slight concern.

"Elsa? Is everything okay?" She asked.

"Hm? Oh.. everything.. everything is just fine." No it wasn't. That was a lie. Elsa was lying already in order to keep this girl happy. She let out a sigh before shaking her head and continued speaking. "No, actually. Everything is not fine. Anna I-"

Elsa stopped mid-sentence when she noticed Anna launch downwards from the top of the wall. For the second time in as many days, Anna landed rather clumsily into the bushes. Only this time, she was on the preferred side of the wall; the side where Elsa was.

Elsa hurried over to the bushes to check if Anna was alright. She wanted to take hold of her and help her up, brushing the leaves from her hair and clothes. But Elsa knew physical contact was not an option lest she lose control again, for however brief a moment.

"Anna? Anna are you okay?" She asked as Anna stood up from the large bush and made her way out of it.

"Oh I'm fine," Anna answered optimistically. "I can't say the same about your plants though. I think that bush may have a permanent Anna shaped hole in it now. Yeah sorry about that."

Elsa brought a hand to her mouth as she chuckled at the ever jokingly attitude of this girl. Until she remembered the issue at hand and once again had a more serious expression on her face.

As Anna finished brushing the leaves from her clothes, a more practical shirt and trousers combination rather than a dress, she turned to face Elsa.

"So, what's wrong? Apparently everything is not fine and I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

"Anna.." Elsa started. She didn't want to carry on with this sentence. But it had to be done. "You have to go." Elsa looked down at the grass, unable to face Anna's reaction.

"What? But I just got here! You said I could come and see you again. If you didn't want me to you could have said so, I would have stayed away if you asked." Anna explained, her voice filled with evident disappointment.

"Well I'm asking you now. Please, you can't be here, it's.." Elsa wanted to explain why. She wanted to tell Anna that it was unsafe to be around her, that she needed to stay away for her own sake. All she wanted was for Anna to know the truth and to understand why. It was the explanation she deserved.

"It is improper." Elsa was suddenly filled with self hatred at the lie she had started telling. "It is not right. It's- we can't carry on doing this. It would be best if you just go."

Elsa's sudden cold attitude towards Anna had hurt. It had really hurt. '_But what did you expect, Anna? That you would climb her wall every day and become her friend and make her like you? That you would eventually start seeing her more often and come during the day time? That you would stop being a secret friend and have tea parties and meet her parents and attend fancy balls by her side? Really, Anna? It would have ended like this sooner or later and you know it.'_

No matter how realistic she tried to be, Anna was still hurt. She was hoping somewhere along the line that everything would turn out okay. Kristoff was right. She had a tendency to fall too hard, too fast and she always got herself hurt. She brought this upon herself.

"I understand."

Elsa finally lifter her gaze from the ground and looked towards Anna, seeing the hurt in her expression. The hurt that she had caused.

"Anna, I'm sorry.. I-"

"No, it's okay. I understand, I do. A rich, sophisticated young woman such as yourself cannot be seen in my company. I get it, I'm not worth your time." The tone of Anna's voice was breaking Elsa'a heart. She didn't expect her to react with such understanding. Perhaps a little hostility maybe, but not this.

"Anna, please-"

"I already told you, it's fine. It's okay, Elsa. I understand where you're coming from. So.. I guess I'll just go, then." And with that, Anna turned away and started looking for a way to get back up and over the wall.

A little ways down the garden, she spotted a tree that would help her back over to the other side. She walked over to it, giving Elsa one last backwards glance, before climbing the tree with ease and jumping over the wall.

She was gone.

She was gone and all Elsa could do was stand there, looking at the tree where she had last seen Anna. Looking at it as though if she stared at it hard enough it would will Anna to come back.

She lost track of how long she stood there looking at the tree but Elsa finally came to the realisation that Anna would not be returning. She had made sure of that with her harsh words. She hated herself. She hated herself so much for lying to this poor innocent girl who had done absolutely nothing wrong. But Elsa could not control herself around her. It was for Anna's own sake that they had to keep apart. If only she could just explain to Anna as to why she had to make her leave. All she wanted was for Anna to know the truth.

From a young age, Elsa's parents had forbidden her from telling anyone about her powers. The people with that knowledge were limited to her parents and the very few members of staff who worked within the manor. Just to be cautious though, they had kept Elsa isolated away from society her entire life, convincing her it was for the best. And Elsa knew they were right. She had on occasion resented them for doing so but she understood it was for the best. It had kept people safe from her.

And now here she was, wanting to defy her parent's most important rule. She needed to explain to Anna. But what would Anna think of her if she did indeed tell her? She didn't want to believe it, but she knew Anna would only think of her as a monster. She was a monster. She knew it. She had the power to hurt so many people if she didn't have it under control. And around Anna, it was so difficult to do so.

Eventually, Elsa turned back to the manor and headed to her bedroom, her thoughts plagued with Anna's reaction to finding out about her powers.

As much as she wanted to explain what was going on inside her and tell Anna the truth about why she had to go, she knew she couldn't.

Anna could never know.

* * *

For the third night in a row, Anna didn't get much sleep. But unlike the past two nights, her thoughts had taken a negative turn.

She lay awake in bed constantly replaying everything Elsa had said, her words hurting her over and over again. And when she finally did drift off to sleep, her dreams were filled with Elsa's cold expression.

Anna awoke earlier than usual the next morning. She would usually sleep as much as possible if she could help it but her dreams were preventing that. And so, she dragged herself out of bed, not ready to face the day having to pretend like nothing was wrong.

'_Ugh, pull yourself together, Anna. Everything she said to you last night was true. Elsa was being realistic. Okay.. I'm never going to see her again and that's fine. That's the way it has to be. It would be.. improper.. if we were to see each other again, under any circumstance.'_

Anna hastily pulled on a dress and went downstairs, saying a quick good morning to her mother before heading outside.

It was colder than usual, despite it having been a rather warm Spring thus far. It was expected to be a lot warmer than this but Anna didn't dwell on the weather for too long. She needed to take a walk to clear her head before meeting Kristoff in the tavern at midday once again.

Anna spent the next couple of hours walking around the outskirts of Arendelle trying to piece her muddled mind together. She liked taking walks around this part of town, closer to the countryside and farm areas. It helped her to just calm down and forget about things when everything all got a bit too much for her.

She had now come to the conclusion that the whole incident with Elsa was what had to happen and it was all in the past now. Granted, she hadn't know this girl for very long nor did she really know anything about her. But Gods, Anna had found herself almost swooning just glancing at her. And now Anna would never see her again. Elsa had made sure of that.

As she made her way back into the center of town, she found herself longing to see Elsa once more. Evidently, the walk to clear her head had proved to be futile. Try as she might, Anna could just not get the beautiful blonde noble woman off her mind.

Despite it being an hour before midday, Anna entered the tavern for some pre-drinking drinks. Perhaps the effects of alcohol would take her mind off Elsa, or at least dull the pain that came with thinking about her.

She had made it through two entire glasses of ale before Kristoff finally arrived. He ordered himself a drink and another for Anna.

"Anna, just how many of those have you had?" He asked as she downed the last of her second glass before immediately starting on her third.

"Just two." Anna answered.

"Okay, well no more after this one. I can't have you getting too drunk this early in the day. Besides, I have some great news!"

"Oh, really?" Anna's usual enthusiasm was definitely absent today and it was worrying Kristoff. She wasn't usually one for feeling so down.

"Anna, what's wrong?" His news was irrelevant now until whatever was bothering his best friend was sorted out. He couldn't stand her feeling so low. And by the expression on her face, something was really bothering her.

"Nothing. I'm fine," she deadpanned.

"Anna you are not fine, you're goddamn miserable. You've been sat in the tavern drinking alone for God knows how long and I know something's up. What's wrong, Anna? Let me help you, please."

Anna looked up at Kristoff. She didn't want to tell him what was wrong, but at the same time she needed to let it out. She needed someone to complain to about all her feelings and everything that Elsa had said to her. But if she did, she was certain that the first thing to come out of Kristoff's mouth would be 'I told you so'.

"It doesn't matter," she finally replied.

"Annaaaaaa.. please." Oh God, he was giving her the big brown puppy dog eyes. Anna hated when he did that. Mainly because they both knew she could never say no when he looked at her like that. And partly because he looked an idiot if she let him do it for too long.

She sighed, giving in and telling Kristoff about both of her visits to the Kristiansen estate. She peered into her mug the entire time as if she were telling the story to her ale rather than her friend. She told him everything Elsa had said to her the previous evening and how it had made her feel. When she finally finished she still didn't look up at Kristoff, afraid of the arrogant expression that would surely be on his face.

After a few moments of silence, however, Anna braved a glance at him, needing to know his reaction. But despite what she predicted, Kristoff's face was full of concern.

He eventually started shaking his head, chuckling at his best friend's crazy antics.

"I knew you'd try and talk to her again," he said with a smile. It wasn't an arrogant one though but rather a warm smile, hoping to make Anna feel a little more comfortable after confessing what she had done. "Honestly though, I didn't think you'd be so reckless about it. I'm impressed." His smile widened.

"Wait, what?" This was not the reaction Anna had expected.

"Come on, Anna. This is you we're talking about. Of course you would have found a way to go see her. I'm not surprised at all, even if I did warn you not to. And I'm sorry that she said all those things to you. But maybe you'll listen to me next time I warn you about something." Despite his words, Kristoff's tone was in no way scolding towards Anna.

Anna's mood had lightened somewhat with his reaction. He had taken it better than she thought. Of course there was an undertone of arrogance but it was a lot less than she was expecting and she appreciated it.

"Yeah well, none of it matters now," Anna said. "It's not like I could have kept meeting her secretly. It had to end eventually and now I'll never see her again. I'm not happy about it but that's just the way it is, I guess." Kristoff still wasn't happy with Anna's mood, but she seemed to be at least slightly more cheerful than when he first entered the tavern. "Anyway," she continued, a smile on her face finally, "what's this great news you have to tell me?"

"Oh yeah! Oh, wait until you hear this!" Kristoff couldn't stop the excitement getting the better of him. "There's word of a ship coming into harbour in a few weeks time. And I know a guy who knows a guy who says there's gonna be room for someone new to work on that ship. And you know how I've always wanted to explore more of the world.. Anna, this is my chance! I could go and see new places and travel on the open seas and just.. I really, really want to go! I might not get another chance like this!"

Anna had very mixed feelings about what Kristoff was telling her. She knew he'd always wanted to do some travelling, see more of the world than just Arendelle and it's surrounding mountains. Hell, Anna wanted to do the same thing. But she couldn't stand the thought of Kristoff being on a ship with a group of strange men.

"Kristoff I-" As much as she wanted to keep her best friend all to herself, she couldn't stand in the way of his dream. That would be selfish of her. She gave him a small but warm smile. "I think you should go for it. It'll be a great experience for you, I'm sure."

Despite her smile though, Kristoff could detect the sadness in her voice. He knew Anna didn't like him being away for too long. She always missed him terribly when he was away on his ice harvesting trips. Kristoff felt the same when he was away from Anna, though he concealed a tad better than she did. Anna had always been so open and honest about her emotions.

"You know, if I did happen to go on that ship, I'd miss you too much. I don't think I would be able to go without you." Kristoff admitted.

"But you're going to anyway. Because I won't hold you back from doing this. It's something you need to go do, despite how much I'd miss you." Anna wanted to be as supportive as she possibly could for him.

"No, Anna. I couldn't go without you. So.. I guess it's lucky that there's space for more than one new person on that crew, huh?" Kristoff added with grin.

"Wait, what? What are you-?"

"I'm saying.. there's room for you too. You now, if you want to come along for the ride."

Anna's eye widened, enthusiasm instantaneously taken over her.

"Oh my goodness! Of course I want to come with you! Gosh, Kristoff this is amazing! I can see it now.. two best friends travelling the world together on a ship. Having all kinds of adventures! Meeting so many interesting new people and seeing so many different places! Wow this is going to be perfect! Oh but.. wait- do you think they'd even let me on board? I mean, Captains don't usually like having girls on their crew, do they? And is it not bad luck to have a woman on board? Oh Gods, no.. this will never work out. They'll never let me go.." Anna ceased her rambling as her face fell at the realisation of not being able to join Kristoff on his adventures. Oh but how she longed to see the world with her best friend. It would have been such an amazing experience.

"Hey now.. don't be so sure," Kristoff replied, trying not to let Anna fall into another miserable mood. "All we have to do is prove to these guys that you're capable of sailing on a ship. You'll be fine. In fact, you'll do fantastic. I know you, Anna.. you're so determined when you set your mind to something and you'll be great on that ship. Plus, you could end up coming home with a hell of a lot of coin in your pocket."

"Really? Do you think we could really convince them I'll be good. I don't know anything about sailing, Kristoff. What if I'm terrible at it?"

"No, I will not accept that attitude, Anna. You're gonna be great! I can bet half the members of that crew will have never sailed before getting on that ship. But they learnt with experience. As will you and I. Everything will be fine so long as we can convince the captain that you're worth having on the crew."

"Are you sure?" Anna asked skeptically.

"I'm sure. Besides, it's a few weeks away yet. You've got plenty of time to repair you sudden pessimistic attitude and get yourself ready to get on that ship."

Anna's face was filled with abrupt determination.

"Okay! I can do this! I will be a damn good sailor and I'll prove it! They'll have to let me on board! Hey Kristoff?"

"Hmm?"

"What exactly is this ship anyway? What is it for? What do the crew actually do? Is it like a merchant vessel or something?" Anna asked, realising she had no idea what the crew's intention for sailing was.

"Ummm.. not exactly.." The sheepish expression that suddenly etched on Kristoff's face made Anna narrow her eyes.

"This suddenly doesn't sound entirely legal."

"Oh it's completely legal, I swear! The ship is given official letters of marque and everything! It's all legalised by the government, honest. The crew on that ship.. they're privateers. We could become privateers, Anna!"

Anna wasn't entirely sure what to make of this new batch of information. She thought their adventures on this ship would be a lot more tame than this.

"So essentially we're going to become pirates?" She disputed.

"No! Privateers are not pirates and you know that," Kristoff told her.

"The distinction between a privateer and a pirate is highly vague, Kristoff. In my opinion, there really is no difference. I don't really want to become a pirate. They're nothing but ruthless criminals."

"But you won't be a pirate! Everything they do on that ship is completely legal. The government gives them permission to do everything so it's not like being a pirate at all! All we will do is sort out a few enemy warships and make sure we always have the upper hand, you know? And we'll make a bit of money along the way, which is always a plus. And just imagine all the places you'll get to see. Come on, Anna, it will be worth it. It's gonna be fun and you know it!" Kristoff admittedly have a very good argument. He was right, the work of a privateer was all completely legalised by the government so long as they never attacked ships of their own country. And despite the danger, Anna did not want to pass up this opportunity. And getting away from Arendelle for a while would do her a whole lot of good, she was sure.

"Alright I'm in."

"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about!"

And with that, they clinked their glasses together and downed the last of their drinks.

* * *

Elsa had barely slept that night. Everything she had said to Anna had left her feeling distraught. She was having a constant internal battle with her conflicted feelings. By the time the sun had risen, she had made up her mind. She was determined to find Anna once more and tell her how she meant none of what she had said that evening. She would leave out the vital piece of information about how she had control over snow and ice but she still needed to explain that her reasoning last night was not why she couldn't see Anna anymore. And she needed to apolgise at least one more time. She was going to leave the estate that very day and search for Anna, consequences be damned.

After having an uncomfortably quiet breakfast with her parents, Elsa made out as though she would be in the library spending her day doing something productive so as not to arouse suspicion.

After making her way somewhat towards the library, she quickly turned down the corridor that would take her to the entrance and headed out of the front door. Luckily the gardens were empty so Elsa managed to walk towards the front gates undetected.

She stopped right before exiting the grounds, anxiety suddenly overwhelming her. She had never left the estate unaccompanied and she wasn't sure she could do this now. The thought of losing control in public and hurting everyone in sight swam around her mind. She would be putting Arendelle in danger if she walked out of those gates.

Elsa closed her eyes and took a deep breath, eventually managing to steady her rapid breathing.

"Control yourself," she whispered. "Conceal it, don't feel it. Don't let it show. You are in control. I can control this. I can do this."

Elsa managed to talk herself out of the apprehension and finally she walked out of the gates and made her way down the road towards the bustling market.

She had no idea what she was going to say to Anna should she find her. All she knew was that she needed to apologise. And more than anything, she absolutely had to keep her powers under control. Her powers had already had an effect on the weather, making it colder than usual due to her restless night.

Elsa ended up spending her entire morning searching through the market as well as the less busier parts of town in search for the red haired girl. She had hoped Anna would be out and about, perhaps sat on a wall somewhere. But she hadn't seen a trace of the girl anywhere.

She was about to give up her search and head back home as she walked past the tavern, keeping her head down and not noticing the door to the tavern open as someone walked out of it.

Had Elsa been watching where she was going, she may have noticed said person and prevented the predicament that came to follow.

She inevitably walked straight into whoever had left the tavern and she would have gone tumbling to the ground had a pair of arms not wrapped themselves around her waist and held her steady.

Elsa flushed with embarrassment as she came to apologise to the person who had stopped her from falling, but her words caught in her throat when she noticed the familiar teal eyes and freckled cheeks.

She was still wrapped in Anna's arms as they stared at each other. Elsa was so close she could smell the alcohol on Anna's breath. neither of them spoke or even moved for a few seconds as they stood in disbelief at the occurrence.

That is, until a soft snowflake fell down and landed on Anna's cheek, instantly melting amongst the many freckles. Anna didn't seem to notice the sudden light snowfall as she still stared at Elsa, trying to figure out what she was doing here and even more so.. trying to wrap her head around the fact that she was still holding her in her arms.

Elsa finally tore her gaze away from Anna and looked at the sky. She had been doing so well up until now. She really couldn't control herself around Anna and now the whole of Arendelle would be affected by this sudden snow in Spring.

"Elsa?" Anna finally spoke up, letting go of the taller girl's waist. "What.. what are you doing here?"

Elsa looked back down to Anna with a fearful expression.

"I was.. looking for you." Elsa admitted. "But I have to go. I'm expected back home." It wasn't a complete lie. As soon as her parents noticed the snowfall they would expect to see Elsa and demand an explanation as to why she had made it snow at this time of the year.

"Elsa, wait.. don't go just yet," Anna pleaded. "If you were looking for me that means you needed to talk to me, right?"

"Another time, maybe." Elsa tried to keep her voice as calm as possible whilst simultaneously trying to control her emotions and stop the snow.

"Elsa, please. Please just tell me what's going on. Tell me why you were looking for me. What is it that you need to say?"

Elsa could only stand there, her gaze constantly shifting from the freckled girl to the snow falling from the sky and back again.

"Elsa?!" Anna raised her voice ever so slightly and gently grabbed her hand in order to get the blonde's full attention. '_Gods her hands are freezing. I need to get her warmed up._'

Without a second thought, Anna pulled the young noble into the tavern and took her to sit down at an unoccupied table in the corner out of everyone's way.

Elsa didn't see the point in trying to rush back home now. She would be in enough trouble as it was, why hurry back now?

Anna sat down opposite her, evidently concerned.

"Do you want a drink?" She asked. Of course, she didn't expect Elsa to want anything from a place like this. It was nowhere near as classy as what she would be used to, but Anna did it more out of politeness that anything.

As she predicted, Elsa shook her head silently.

"So, are you going to tell me what's the matter?"


End file.
